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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26639950">A Hope in the Dark</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Z_OTAKU19/pseuds/Z_OTAKU19'>Z_OTAKU19</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Once Upon a Time (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, F/F, Medical Trauma, Mentions of Rape (not explicit), POV Evil Queen | Regina Mills, Pregnancy, True Love Magic Baby, mentions of outlawqueen, mentions of swanfire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:00:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,340</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26639950</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Z_OTAKU19/pseuds/Z_OTAKU19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’re telling me that you are pregnant—not a spell or magic thing you are honest-to-god pregnant—and also that you haven’t slept with anyone else? Do you even hear yourself Regina?!”</p><p>In which Regina gets pregnant and can’t explain why or how. Heartbreak ensues. After Season 5a, no Underworld Arc. Mentions of Swanfire and Outlawqueen</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>139</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Swan Queen Supernova V: Forever Starstruck</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. How it happened...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuhiuchiha23/gifts">yuuhiuchiha23</a>.</li>


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26059642">A hope in the dark</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuhiuchiha23/pseuds/yuuhiuchiha23">yuuhiuchiha23</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I picked this up as a pinch hit work for Yozeth, and the only requirements she gave me were that it was a true love magic baby fic and that Emma fucks up somehow causing Regina to give birth alone and there are complications.  While I probably didn’t capture her original vision, I think I met those requirements pretty well. Her art is great, so give her nice comments please!</p><p>Italicized words outside of dialogue represent Regina's inner thoughts, how she feels at any given moment. You’ll probably see my bias for Emma leak through while reading this, because I do like her a lot, and I think it’d take a lot for Emma to abandon Regina, especially during a pregnancy. Also I piss on Swanfire and Outlawqueen a bit. Also Rumple and Zelena stopped existing? Eh, this is all last minute; I didn't have time to write in more characters.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Bzzt. Bzzt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>...where am I?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s dark. I can’t see. It’s really cold. I can’t move.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I feel pain. I feel numb. I can’t move. I can’t sense anything. It’s dark, it’s cold, I’m alone, and I don’t know where I am.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Emma? Where are you? Emma. Protect Baby. Baby. I was...I remember...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>[Five months ago]</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No no no! This has to be some kind of mistake,” Regina whimpered, her grip nearly crushing the pregnancy tests in hand, those damn two lines staring back at her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She had been experiencing the symptoms for a quite a while now, the vomiting, the dizziness, the aching breasts, the sudden mood swings and unusual fatigue. There was also the lack of a period, but those had rarely occurred ever since taking that infertility potion decades ago.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was what the infertility potion was for, so that she would never have any unplanned pregnancies. In fact, she wouldn’t have even considered pregnancy until Henry made an offhand comment about her acting like Ashley during the curse. But he did mention it  and the thought kept gnawing on her mind, motivating her to drive out of town to confirm it herself (She would NEVER risk buying a pregnancy test publicly in Storybrooke).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And now she was shaking, having a panic attack in a gas station bathroom, because despite not having sex with a man in over a year, despite having taken an infertility potion, she was somehow, </span>
  <em>
    <span>impossibly</span>
  </em>
  <span> pregnant.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I remember that day well. I was shocked and angry and confused because then, nothing made sense. But mostly I was afraid, no I was terrified. Because I had no way to explain this to Emma.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Emma…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been over a year since they had cast out the darkness in Emma, and Hook had died in the process. Regina had stayed with Emma then, making sure she ate, showered, and had clean clothes. At some point she started visiting Emma for the sake of just being there with her, much to the chagrin of her former boyfriend Robin. When he had confronted her about this, demanding that she choose between Emma and him, she had chosen Emma without a second thought. “Anyone who demands your time as though they are entitled to you is not someone you want in your life, nor should that person have to stay around if you aren’t taking time for them,” she had explained to Henry. “Even if that person is your soulmate.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Emma had never demanded anything of her, had never asked her to stay all the times she was grieving, the long nights when she was having a breakdown. Yet Regina had stayed, nay, she had gravitated to her. To Regina, it was as if Emma had some mysterious aura that compelled her to give her her best self, to always do right by her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>She really is Henry’s mother.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had taken some time before they officially got together, both had been dealing with the aftermaths of their exes and were content with their friendship. Eventually, that friendship turned into something more, and after Henry’s insistence and permission, they had begun dating. Word got out fast, but aside from Robin and his men, most everyone was supportive or indifferent to it. Snow had sent Regina an essay long text message congratulating her and offering her full support. Regina had blocked her number in response (Emma later made her unblock it) for the annoyingly theatrical dramatics, but Regina would have been lying if she said the support wasn’t appreciated. Weeks later, Emma moved in with her, and has been living there since. It seemed as though finally, she had found her new family with Emma and Henry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Seven months later, and this damn pregnancy was threatening to tear it all apart.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ping! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Regina pulled out her phone and smiled sadly. Emma had messaged her: </span>
  <em>
    <span>Are you coming home soon?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Regina quickly responded: </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes, dear. I’m unfortunately a bit busy right now. I’ll be home in about an hour. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Cool! See ya my majesty ;)</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Steeling herself, Regina swore to tell Emma as soon as she got home. Emma had a right to know, and even if she did lie, Emma would see right through her. It would be better to tell her now instead of having Emma discover the truth later. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’ll understand,” Regina kept repeating to herself on the drive home. She repeated that mantra up until she made it to the driveway, where her girlfriend was waiting for her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Regina!” Emma pulled Regina into a hug as soon as she left the car. “How was your day off? Do you need help carrying anything? I didn’t know when you’d be back from your trip so I cooked dinner already. It’s not a lot but I hope you like it,” She continued chatting animatedly as she led Regina inside.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah, it’ll just be the two of us tonight. Henry left with my parents some time after you this morning. You remember their “Camping Week with Grandpa and Grandma” thing right? Of course you do; as if you wouldn’t know our son’s whereabouts at all times Madame Perfect.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Despite her worries, Regina couldn’t help but crack a smile at her girlfriend’s peppiness. “Yes, I did remember Thank you for reminding me dear,” she replied. “Also, thank you for making dinner. Let me freshen up while you set plates.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yes, she would tell her after dinner. Eat first, talk later was more of Emma's style anyways.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dinner had been relatively quiet. Emma had made a simple [insert white food here] and was happily shoveling it into her mouth, while Regina was mostly picking at her food and taking small bites, trying to avoid triggering her nausea.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is the food not good?” Emma questioned worriedly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm? Oh no dear, it’s delicious. I’m glad you finally learned how to use spices,” Regina remarked coolly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Har de har. But seriously Regina, you usually eat at least half your plate by the time I’m done. I thought you said you were getting better.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina offered a face smile, though it was pointless. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>am</span>
  </em>
  <span> feeling better,” she insisted feebly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Regina.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know, I know. I’m feeling better than before, I assure you.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Another lie</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey after dinner, how about I give you a massage huh? Would that help?” Emma offered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As tempting as that sounds, it’ll have to wait. I actually need to tell you something important. It’s...urgent.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh! Um, alright then. I’ll just put away these dishes and catch up to you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Minutes later, Emma joined Regina in her study. “So what did you want to tell me?” she asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Here goes nothing. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Regina took a deep breath. “When I told you I was going out for a breather, that was a half-truth. I was actually looking into why I was feeling sick. Today I drove out of town to buy this.” With trembling fingers, Regina held up the pregnancy test. She gulped nervously as Emma’s eyes widened at the test results.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Th-this is real?” Emma sputtered, “This isn’t a joke right? Because I thought you were infertile and all</span>
  <span>...</span>
  <span>you’re really pregnant, the test is really real?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’d need to get an appointment and get an ultrasound, but yes, it seems like I am. It explains my mysterious illness.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma, still unconvinced, argued, “Are you sure this isn’t just like a magic thing? Some spell messing up your hormones or something?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina shook her head. “Aside from my infertility potion apparently having worn off, this seems to be a completely normal pregnancy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then were you,” Emma asked cautiously, “Have you been sexually assaulted recently? Fuck I’m sorry I have to ask.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh Emma. Still believing in me.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I never slept with anyone else Emma. I haven’t been with anyone besides you, that much I can assure you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma paused at that, silently processing everything. Her confused expression slowly changed to scorn and indignation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait. Let me see if I got all this. You’re telling me that you are pregnant—not a spell or magic thing you are honest-to-god </span>
  <em>
    <span>pregnant</span>
  </em>
  <span>—but also that you haven’t slept with anyone else? Do you even hear yourself Regina?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina recoiled at the fierce outburst. She knew this conversation wasn’t going to be pleasant, but still, hearing the disbelief and anger directed at her still hurt. She fought back the tears that we're beginning to well up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Emma pleas,” Regina pleaded, “I know it’s hard to believe. I wouldn’t believe what I’m saying either. But please Emma, you know me better than anyone else. Look at me, </span>
  <em>
    <span>look at me</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Use your superpower. See if I’m lying to you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina’s desperations seemed to resonate with Emma, calming her down. She stared with trepidation, taking in Regina’s sincere vulnerable expression. After a few agonizingly long moments, she sighed heavily and buried her face in her hands. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I believe you’re not lying. I’m so sorry for snapping at you; you didn’t deserve that. But fuck, Regina what am I supposed to thing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What to think indeed.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well,” Regina mused, “Maybe I’m wrong and this is just some hormones thing or magic issue. Until I get an appointment, I won’t know if I actually have...a baby.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And if you do?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There it was. The question Regina had been dreading: what would she do if she was carrying a child. They hadn’t talked too much about having other children; after the incident of Henry’s abduction and the drama between Emma and her parents regarding little Neal, both parties had decided to focus their attention solely on their only son. Whenever they decided to raise another, they had agreed to foster, paying homage to Emma’s origins. However, carrying a child to term, a child with very questionable origins, was a completely different matter. Even if it did turn out to be a real baby, what would that mean to Emma? Emma had no obligation to raise nor commit to it regardless of Regina’s decision. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And what </span>
  <em>
    <span>would </span>
  </em>
  <span>Regina do? She certainly wasn’t thrilled about going through pregnancy or childbirth. If Emma didn’t stay with her, Regina simply couldn’t go through all that and raise a child alone. The thought of having a family was unbearable in and of itself. Would she give up this potential child to keep Emma?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Regina!” Emma snapped her fingers, snapping Regina out of her internal monologue. “Look, I know it’s a lot of decisions for both of us. And I have a LOT of questions and doubts about this whole thing; I can’t deny it. I hate that I’m hurting you by being suspicious. But you understand why I’m suspicious, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina nodded stiffly, tears running down her face, though she had no recollection of when she began crying. Seeing this, Emma wrapped her arms around her and pulled Regina into a tight hug, rubbing circles on her back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Emma spoke softly, “We’re going to that appointment to see if it is a real baby. Then, we’ll, um, I haven’t figured that part out yet but we’ll start from there. We’ll figure the rest out later. Together. Just know that right now, I have doubts, but I’m going to believe in you. Because I love you Regina.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina kept sniveling quietly into Emma’s shirt, but this time, she was crying tears of relief. Relief that Emma had given her a chance and her (tentative) support and was willing to work things out with her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I wanted to tell you “thank you.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Five days later, they were sitting in the hospital waiting room of the radiology department. It was stressfully quiet: the only sounds being the white noise from the TV and the clacking noise of the receptionist typing. On the other end of the room there was one other couple glancing at them and whispering to each other. Regina tried to pay them no mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know they’re definitely talking about us Regina,” Emma whispered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I know,” Regina replied curtly, keeping her gaze fixed on the floor tiles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Before we’re even done with the appointment,” Emma continued as the couple was called in, “the whole town will know about this visit. Everyone will be gossiping.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I know.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wonder what the town is going to say about it, us here. I bet they’ll be taking bets on who the father is. Fuck,  I hope we can tell Henry first when he comes back from camping. He deserves to hear from his parents, not through the gossip line at Grannys. He’ll probably have a lot of questions. I hope we’ll be able to set things straight with him. And then there are my parents—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I know!” Regina shouted and turned sharply, glaring at Emma. “I’m already stressed out and your </span>
  <em>
    <span>reminders</span>
  </em>
  <span> aren’t helping! Please just shut up! I swear, you talk more than your insipid birdbrain excuse of a mother!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma winced in shame. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, turning away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck fuck fuck. I’m so sorry Emma. I didn’t mean it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait Emma, I’m—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Emma cut her off, “No, don’t apologize. You’re going through a lot right now, and I wasn’t being mindful of that, going on about worries. It’s okay. Really.” She gave Regina a thumbs up trying to reassure her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina sighed wistfully, “Well it’s not like I hadn’t already thought about all that stuff.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Truth be told, Regina had been dreading this appointment for those aforementioned reasons. If she had the choice, she would have happily sought a clinic out of town to preserve anonymity. However, with the nearest town being over an hour long drive, it wasn’t feasible to make those constant trips for appointments, not without raising suspicion for Henry, causing Regina to seek out the best of the best in Storybrooke. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Henry. Thinking about how Henry would react to suddenly getting a younger sibling made Regina hope that her pregnancy test was a false positive, just to avoid having that conversation. But Henry was coming home tomorrow and that conversation would be coming soon otherwise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey don’t get too down,” Emma patted Regina’s back, “It could always be a hormone thing or weird magic.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Right. Hormone imbalance or a magic bug. Those were the only options. They both knew it because they had spent the last five days combing over all the books in her vault looking up magical babies. Although there were spells that could imitate the effects of pregnancy, there was virtually nothing regarding magical conception. No magic or spell could make a baby from nothing. There was even documentation of two women who tried using magical penises to create them, but never could. The only way someone could magically get pregnant was from a genie, and even that required physical intimacy. Regina knew she hadn’t slept with any men nor spoken with any genies for a long time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Regina Mills,” a nurse called out from the back door, “Come this way please.” </span>
  <span>Regina and Emma followed the nurse to their room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please lie down on the exam table,” the nurse instructed. Regina complied. “Doctor Salzman will be in shortly,” she added before swiftly exiting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Doctor Salzman?” Emma commented, raising an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She was the court midwife back in the Enchanted Forest,” Regina explained. “During my reign, she successfully delivered hundreds of babies. If there’s anyone in this godforsaken town I trust with this, it’s her.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma shrugged. “To be honest I didn’t know there were many other doctors besides Whale. Magic healing kind of exempted me from hospital visits,” she confessed sheepishly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As if on cue, the door swung open, and an older woman with chestnut hair walked in. “Good day, your majesty. Though I suppose it would’ve more proper to address you as ‘Madam Mayor’ in this realm.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina let out a snicker, “Please Holly, drop the formalities. You may call me Regina.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Allowing me to address you informally? I suppose what they say is true: you really </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> changed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both women laughed, as poor Emma stared, taken aback at their apparent closeness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noticing her girlfriend’s confusion, Regina clarified, “I had summoned her in the past to monitor my health. Specifically, regarding my infertility, when I took the potion.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Back then, I was requested to test your infertility,” Dr. Salzman chimes in. “I never expected to be confirming the opposite.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That remains to be seen,” Emma cut in. “Could you get on with it now? And don’t try anything weird.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry Savior, I won’t hurt your precious darling,” Dr. Salzman winked and got straight to work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sure enough, Dr. Salzman was a true professional. She explained the procedure and what to expect with the ease and clarity of someone who’s done this a million times, and guided Regina gently through the preparation. Regina could tell Emma was impressed with her because the grip on her hand had loosened, as if to say, ‘I trust her with you.’ The doctor’s calm composure and obvious experience handling the tools reinforced that sentiment. Emma never let go though, her hand holding Regina’s a reminder that she was still there. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now I'm going to run this projector onto your pelvic area, and the image will show on this screen.” She held the tool in position and switched it on</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both Emma and Regina gasped at the sight. Right there on the screen, there it was. It was so tiny, barely a few inches, but it was stretching and moving around. Honestly, it looked like a worm with a little head and four small appendages, but it still brought both women to tears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What you’re seeing right now is a healthy fetus. From its size, I say you’re about ten to twelve weeks pregnant. You can see the head there, and those are the arms and legs...”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Neither Regina nor Emma said a word, silently taking in Dr. Salzman’s words. Their eyes were glued to the screen, mesmerized by the moving blob.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Would you like to see whether we can find a heartbeat?” she asked finally, and Regina could only nod, still speechless and in awe.(They did find a stable heartbeat, running at 135bpm.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It was a baby. Not a spell or a bug, a real baby. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It was beautiful.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Normally, this is the part where I say ‘congratulations.’ However, you came more so to confirm whether or not you were pregnant. Now that that’s confirmed, do you have a plan going forward?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snapped back to the reality of tough decisions. Regina shook her head. “I’m sorry, we don’t know.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dr. Salzman had the grace to look sympathetic. “Would you like some time to discuss with your partner?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes!” Regina replied enthusiastically. “We would love that. Right, Emma?” she turned to the blonde for confirmation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma nodded, “Please leave us for a while.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The doctor stood up. “Very well. Call me back when you’ve reached a conclusion. And remember,” she added while opening the door, “you don’t have to have a clear answer today.” And with that she was gone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So...what do you want to do? I mean, you’re the one carrying it.” Emma said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I...I think I want to keep the baby,” Regina admitted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma raised an eyebrow at that. “Really? You’re sure?” she pushed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina giggled, “I know, crazy right? But when I saw it for the first time, that it was moving and real, I remembered Henry’s first years when he was so little and precious. You know what I’m talking about? Those days?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma nodded mutely, not that Regina needed the confirmation. She knew that Emma remembered those things because she gave those memories to her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know this is very sudden and not at all planned, but I just really want to have it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...oh.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?” Regina gulped nervously, dreading Emma’s next words.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This is the moment, I thought. This is the moment where Emma tells me that she doesn’t want to raise another child with me and leaves.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s just...now that we know you’re pregnant, there’s only one reason how this could have happened.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I swear Emma, I haven’t slept—“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not the reason I was alluding to.” That pointed comment made Regina shudder involuntarily. “I believe that you don’t know how you got pregnant. But knowing that, there’s only one other reason how this could have happened, if three months ago you were—“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“No,” Regina grit out, “that’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>impossible</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” It had to be. “No one took advantage of me. I-I know my body.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You thought you were infertile, but still got pregnant,” Emma reminded her, “I don’t want to entertain the possibility either, but if that’s possible, then who’s to say you weren’t?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop!” Regina was crying again, memories of the king resurfacing. “I don’t want to hear it! Emma Swan, why are you even saying this?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because I’ve been there Regina!” Emma yelled back, stunning Regina into silence. Tears were also streaming down Emma’s face now. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> what it’s like to be taken advantage of by someone and later learned that I was pregnant with their child and it was hell!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was seventeen, Regina. He was in his late twenties—at least that’s what I thought! I was young and naïve and he saw that and took advantage of that. He used me and sent me to prison for his crime and then I learned that I was pregnant and I was </span>
  <em>
    <span>broken</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I spent nine months with what I felt was his </span>
  <em>
    <span>spawn</span>
  </em>
  <span> inside me, and I couldn’t escape him! And I can’t just watch the same thing happen to you!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma’s voice was raw and angry and anguished. It seemed as though this was the first time she was able to vent all her real feelings towards that insipid man. Regina offered her hand in sympathy, to which Emma clutched tightly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Emma, I’m so sorry. I never knew you felt that way about him,” Regina apologized. “Henry always said good things and you were willing to spend time with him so I assumed that things were okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma sighed. “I had initially lied to Henry, you know? Told him that Neal was a heroic firefighter who died in service.” She launched dryly, the laugh sounding more like a strangled sob. “Then I ran into him because of Gold in New York and Henry learned that I lied to him. I had to bring him back to Storybrooke because Gold demanded it, so I lured him in with the promise of spending time with “his son.”” Emma spat out the words, her resentment clear. “And i let it all happen and I never told Henry the truth because he was twelve and a twelve year old boy shouldn’t have to think about those things. But looking back at how everyone adores him post mortem, down to my parents naming their son after him, I really wish I did tell the truth.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were both quiet for some time, Emma wiping away her tears and Regina processing Emma’s confession. She understood Emma’s position, why she thought that carrying this any would be a bad, bad idea</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Even so, you still carried Henry, Emma,” Regina pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes I did, and I absolutely don’t regret it now,” Emma said, “but I was in prison Regina. There weren’t many options laid out for me. I had to accept that I was carrying this baby and my only choice was to raise him myself or give him up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s different for you,” she continued, “We’re here in Storybrooke, and you-you have the choice and I don’t want you to end up going through that kind of pain. The long, uncertain pregnancy, running into the father, dealing with custody battles...”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It sounded so convincing, Emma’s argument. Regina’s brain was agreeing, saying that she was rushing into this decision, that if she wanted to have a child, it didn’t have to be this one. But </span>
  <em>
    <span>damn </span>
  </em>
  <span>if Regina wasn’t ruled by her heart, and right then her heart was screaming to keep it because it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>beautiful. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now if only she could convince Emma, and her brain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s not the only way it’s different,” Regina finally pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Back then, you knew exactly who the father was and what he had done to you. I don’t even know how I got pregnant. I know why you’re worried about this pregnancy and what it’ll mean for me, but everything you’ve said is only one possibility. Maybe the father will never come forward. Maybe there isn’t even a father at all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But your books—“ Emma argued.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“—are not the only magic books in the world. We haven’t even consulted Belle yet; surely she would be able to find some information to make sense of all this. And then there would be nothing to worry about, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Surely there would be another answer. There had to be. That’s the only way any of this makes sense.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina added, “Even if it is the worst outcome like you said, I still wouldn’t mind so long as you’re with me. I can’t explain it, but whenever I’m with you I feel like we can do anything and everything. We can get through it all together. So please Emma…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma stared at Regina, her facial features bewitched with awe. “When did you get to be so hopeful?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina laughed, a genuine laugh this time, and cupped Emma’s face in her palms. “Well I suppose you’ve been such a good influence on me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright,” Emma said at last. “I'm in.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina’s heart jumped for joy as all her former trepidations melted away. “I love you, you know?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma laughed and gave her a peck. “I know. I love you too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Call Dr. Salzman inside, would you dear?” Emma bounced out of her seat at Regina’s request and happily skipped to the door. Regina’s heart warmed at the childish display.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>There’s hope for me yet. It will be okay. It will be okay.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As promised, they told Henry the next morning, after Snow and David had dropped him off from their camping getaway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Henry didn’t take it very well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck Mom?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kid! You do not talk to your mother like that!” Emma scolded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No! How could you Mom?! Everything was finally good! We were all together! How could you cheat on Ma?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t cheat,” Regina said weakly. Her words fell on deaf ears. In hindsight, she probably shouldn’t have started this conversation with “I’m pregnant.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As always, Emma was reliably loud. “She didn’t cheat on anyone Henry! There is no father!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t patronize me! I’m fifteen; I know how babies are made! And why are you defending her?! Argh!” Henry screamed before running upstairs. “Don’t follow me!” he called out before slamming his bedroom door shut.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That could have gone better,” Emma grunted before turning to her girlfriend. “Regina, are you okay?” she asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He hates me Emma,” Regina sniveled, reaching for a tissue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma sighed sadly, pulling Regina into a tight hug. “He doesn’t hate you Regina. He’s hurt and confused and a teenager who can’t express himself well. I’ll talk to Henry, get him to calm down okay?” Regina nodded, wiping away her tears as Emma scurried upstairs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess this is a bad time?” A voice rang from behind her. Regina whipped around and nearly did a double take seeing the songbird woman next to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina quickly tried to make herself look more presentable as though she hadn’t bawled her eyes out (Seriously, what was it with being pregnant and crying so much) “What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to sound composed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snow graciously didn’t comment on the tears. “Henry left this in the car, and your door was unlocked.” She held out a flashlight. Regina accepted it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see. And I suppose you heard…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just about everything,” Snow confirmed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course she did. “Well I suppose you don't have to worry about spilling the beans; the entire town is probably already gossiping about it,” Regina said. “Thank you for returning this. You may go now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Congratulations.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Excuse me?” Regina’s eyebrow arched. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why do I always assume Snow has some ulterior motive?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snow shrugged, “From what I heard, it sounded like you and Emma were going to raise the baby together. So I’m congratulating you guys. Was I wrong?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s complicated right now. We’ve decided to keep the baby, but Emma’s still concerned about the whole arrangement. Especially with the matter of the unknown father,” Regina admitted. Never had she thought she would be sharing her insecurities with Snow of all people, a testament to how far they’ve come in trusting each other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh Emma? I wouldn’t worry about it,” Snow reassured. “She’ll come around for you. My daughter is always there for you when it matters. Even I know that. Same with Henry. He’s fought you before, but he still loves you. He’ll come around too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina was never one for a hope speech, but even she couldn’t help but be touched at Snow’s words that were somehow exactly what she needed to hear (Blame the hormones for </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span>). </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t expect any praise because your hope speech actually worked somewhat,” Regina said coolly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The fact that it worked is all the praise I need,” Snow replied. “Well, I should get going for now. David’s been waiting outside for me for forever. And again Regina, don’t worry too much. Emma and Henry will be helping you every step of the way. And I’ll be helping too,” she quickly added.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina snapped back to attention. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You</span>
  </em>
  <span>? I think not.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snow shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve been pregnant twice, one of those times being only two years ago; I’m sure I know more than my daughter.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina sighed. “Whatever Snow.” It was a losing battle, trying to keep a noble Charming away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t hear an explicit no!” Snow called back as she made her exit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just in time to see Henry and Emma walking downstairs. Henry's gaze was fixed at the floor, hands buried in his pockets. They stopped in front of her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kid, do you have something to say to your mom?” Emma gave Henry a pointed look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...I’m sorry,” he mumbled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She couldn’t hear you,” Emma’s tone left no room for arguing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry Mom. I shouldn't have yelled at you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma pressed, “And why did you yell at her?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was upset because it came out of nowhere, since we didn’t talk about it beforehand. I was mostly hurt for Ma. Because I thought you cheated on her, and I guess I just thought that you had pressured her into keeping someone else’s baby just because you wanted to.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina winced at Henry’s last statement. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That’s sort of what I did at the hospital. Emma was doubtful but I pushed her.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Ma sat me down and she told me that she didn’t feel that way at all. She said that she was also excited to have another kid.” Regina was surprised, and looked to Emma for confirmation, who smiled back at her. “I’m still not 100% about this whole thing, but if Ma is also on board with it, then it’s okay.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>‘It’s okay.’ Such a simple phrase that carried so much hope for the future. Without thinking, Regina pulled Henry into a hug. “It’s okay, it’ll be okay, it’s fine now.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So I’m forgiven? No punishments?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll let it go this time. But you will never speak that way to your mother or me ever again. Understood?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah Mom, I got it,” Henry said sheepishly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They stayed like that a while, Regina and Henry racking back and forth in their embrace while Emma watched fondly. No one wanted this peaceful moment to end. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Henry spoke first. “Do you know what gender it’ll be? The baby, I mean.”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Regina nodded. “It’ll be a girl.” Dr. Salzman had confirmed it at yesterday’s appointment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Henry nodded. “Good,” he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina was intrigued. “Why, does it matter to you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Henry nodded again. “If it was a boy, then you’d have another little prince,” he admitted. “I’d be jealous. I don’t want that. I want to be your prince forever.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh Henry,” Regina’s hug tightened and she kissed his forehead. “You will always be my little prince. Nothing, not even a baby, could ever change that.” It was true. Despite everything they've been through, they still loved each other and they were still family. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Go take a shower and change into clean clothes. We’re going to Granny’s soon,” Regina said, finally letting go of him. “Henry followed instructions, running up the stairs again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He takes after you,” Regina told Emma later. “The whole worrying for others thing. And the yelling.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like you don’t yell?” Emma scoffed. “It’s a Swan-Mills thing. When we care about the people we love, we tend to go overboard.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey Emma,” Regina asked, “Was it true, what Henry said? About your feelings about the baby, and this whole situation. Were those your honest thoughts?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, like I said, it’s a family thing to worry and all. But what was that you just said, Regina? ‘It’ll be okay?’ Yeah that’s a good line. Let’s not overthink this,” Emma pat Regina’s back and gave her a reassuring smile. Regina smiled back, though her smile was laced with concern.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You never answered my question.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>[One week ago]</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Months passed. Emma and Regina slowly transitioned into a routine. Because of her increased nausea, Regina opted to work from home, where she was more comfortable and dealt with less people. Emma would watch over Regina all day when Henry was at school. After eating dinner together, the roles would swap: Emma took night shifts while Henry watched over his mother. This ensured that there would never be a point when Regina was all alone. Of course, this didn’t make the long nights any easier when Regina would turn to Emma’s side of the bed and no one would be there to spoon her or give cuddles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Henry never shouted at her again. He still had a lot of questions, questions about the pregnancy, the baby’s health, if he’ll have to share a room, etc. The questions were never-ending, but Regina didn’t mind too much. If anything, she was grateful that her son was just as invested in this whole pregnancy as his mothers. Even though he was busy with schoolwork, Henry did his fair share.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Perhaps to compensate for not being around at night, Emma practically glued herself to Regina’s hip during the day. If she was ever apprehensive about raising another child, she hid it well from Regina, stepping up to the role of caregiver. When they were together, she focused all her attention on Regina, making sure she was well fed and hydrated, and comfortable. She didn't overdo it—Regina detested being coddled and babied—but Emma was definitely far more attentive to her than ever before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma’s duties continued wherever they were outside the house, where she had the added job of shooing away nosy onlookers and gossipers. As expected, the town went wild with the notion that Regina was pregnant with someone else’s baby. There were speculators, people trying to pin down who the mystery father was. Many thought it was Robin. Others had more outlandish theories, saying she hooked up with David, Whale, or Jefferson. However, no one dared confront Regina or vocalize their thoughts in her presence, especially with her overprotective swan at the ready to bite of their heads for hearsay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so the second trimester passed with relatively little conflict. By this point, Henry had finished his school year and was on summer break. Thus, Emma began picking up more day shifts (at Regina’s insistence) and spent her nights spooning Regina’s growing belly, listening for kicks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>From an outside perspective, everything seemed to be going just fine. Appointments went well, the baby was still very healthy, and despite her body being more noncooperative, she was supported by people who genuinely loved her. Regina herself was thrilled to be a mother and looked towards the future with glee. Yet for as perfect as it all appeared to be, Regina still couldn’t help but feel like something was </span>
  <em>
    <span>incomplete</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then again, they never really spoke about anything specific regarding the pregnancy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their visit to Belle proved fruitless, as even the Dark One’s vault of knowledge had nothing regarding magical conception. Neither did the fairy nuns have any information. After weeks of dead ends and no resolutions, Emma and Regina gave up on searching. It became an understood rule in the Swan-Mills family to just stop talking about it and make things more complicated. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So they go about their days ignoring the elephant in the room of “how is this even happening” and just roll with it. And every now and then, Regina caught herself wondering if Emma’s unusual proactiveness was just another front, masking her real concerns, but she would always smolder the thought before she went too far with it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At this point in time, Regina was roughly eight months pregnant. She had taken time off work, because </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>, being pregnant was exhausting, with the back pains and leaking breasts and mini contractions. Not to mention that now her belly was so large she couldn’t even see her feet, and her feet have swelled to the point where she couldn’t fit into most of her shoes. Even her magic was malfunctioning; Dr. Salzman said that the increased hormones were likely inhibiting her self-control. Therefore, Regina resigned herself to waddling around barefoot or with Emma’s flip flops while wearing oversized sweaters. It was a completely unrefined, unqueenly, undignified look people would pay to see.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>If this is what it was like for Emma, I’ll have to give her a lot more praise for enduring this.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As always, her young prince did his best to help his mother any way he could. Additionally, Snow had kept true to her promise about supporting Regina though everything, visiting her every Saturday while Emma was at work. At first, Regina had shooed her away with magic, but as the third trimester rolled around, and it became harder she had grown to find comfort and stability in her former nemesis’s routine checkups. Snow had been a genuine help, especially with setting up the baby’s nursery, supplying lots of toys and young Neal’s hand me downs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That’s why it came as a huge shock when Snow barged into the manor on Thursday, squealing, “Regina, I have some fantastic news for you and Emma!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes Snow, I bet you do have some good news. That’s why you barged into my house without invitation when Emma was out on patrol.” Regina’s voice dripped with irritation as she followed the giddy pixie into her kitchen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snow went on ignoring Regina’s sarcasm. “Well I stopped at the station to tell Emma, but she wasn’t there. So I rushed straight here! But that’s not what matters; what matters is…” Snow paused, drum rolling the table for dramatic effect, “I know who your baby daddy is!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh no. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Regina was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> having this conversation. “Okay Snow, you know where the door is. You have fifteen seconds to get out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh come on, Regina, just hear me out!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Eight seconds.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Belle and Dr. Salzman agreed with me!” Snow blurted out, trying to buy some time.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>That stopped Regina cold. Taking the bait, she said, “Both of them? I suppose I could entertain this for a while. Although I might need to have a chat about doctor-patient confidentiality.” She gestured to Snow to take a seat. Once both of them had gotten comfortable, Snow continued.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“First, have you ever been,” Snow bit her lip nervously, as though she was a child about to say a bad word. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>sexually intimate </span>
  </em>
  <span>with my daughter?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An evil smirk adorned Regina’s features. “Tut tut Snow. You should know better than to ask questions you don’t want answers to.” She drawled out her words, finding great joy in watching Snow squirm uncomfortably. “I could go into extensive detail about how your daughter is in bed. How her soft lips feel when she eats me out, how she feels against my fingers, the way she moans my name…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay okay, PORN!” Snow’s cheeks were flushed pink in embarrassment. “I just wanted to know if you two are sexually active. Which clearly you are, so that’s good for my theory.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Spit it out already. What does my relationship with Emma have to do with my pregnancy?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snow rolled her eyes, appalled at Regina’s obliviousness. “Emma is your </span>
  <em>
    <span>true love</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Regina. She’s the reason you’re pregnant. She had sex with you, and magically got you pregnant.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>True love? Where did that come from? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure, Emma and Regina loved each other and were close, but true love was one of those once in a lifetime things that was unreachable for people like them, people grounded in the harsh reality of the world where fairy tale endings are almost always out of reach, no matter how hard you fight for them. Numerous years of heartbreak were a testament to this. For Snow to spout on about them having true love was nothing short of </span>
  <em>
    <span>absurd.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Explain yourself,” Regina demanded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snow began, “So in the beginning, everyone was so focused on how you got pregnant. What we should have done was instead focus on how you were able to get pregnant at all. Because even if you did sleep with somebody else, the infertility potion should have worked.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a fair point. The infertility potion failing was a peculiar mystery, as its effects were supposed to be permanent. She never had any complications in the Enchanted Forest or Storybrooke until now. Even Dr. Salzman was puzzled as to how this phenomenon could have occurred. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The infertility potion you took all those years ago was a curse, Regina. A self-inflicted curse. And only true love can break any and all curses. Whatever...</span>
  <em>
    <span>stuff </span>
  </em>
  <span>you and Emma did broke it and got you pregnant.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina laughed and laughed, shaking her head in disbelief because Snow was spouting utter </span>
  <em>
    <span>nonsense</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Snow, for that to work, Emma and I would have to be true loves. I don’t think we have “charming” love you and David flaunt around.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snow smiled triumphantly as though she had meticulously prepared time and time again for this comeback. “Aren't you?” She held up a glass bottle with two strands of glowing hair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina eyed the bottle suspiciously. “What is that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snow shrugged noncommittally. “Oh, just Gold’s bottle of true love. He used David’s and my hair to make it. Belle only just now found it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And how does this relate to Emma and me?” Regina was becoming more frustrated that Snow wasn’t telling her outright. Regina hated not knowing something Snow knew and she hated that Snow was able to taunt her with that information. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The colors, Regina.” Snow hinted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina looked at the bottle again and gasped. The hairs were red and white. Just like...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Our magic,” Regina finished breathlessly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“See?!” Snow beamed excitedly. “Your magic was purple at first but then you met Emma and then it became red! It’s clearly…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Regina wasn’t listening to Snow anymore, her mind still reeling at the revelation. Memories of them using magic together, fighting off monsters, moving the moon. Memories of believing in each other and “somehow, that makes us unique, or maybe even special.” Memories of them both sharing true love’s kiss with their son. Memories of sacrifice and the raw desire for the other person to have happiness, even at the cost of their own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“True love,” Regina whispered breathlessly. Never in a million years did she ever think she would find it, and it was right in front of her this entire time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have one question,” Regina said. “How the </span>
  <em>
    <span>hell </span>
  </em>
  <span>did you, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>idiot </span>
  </em>
  <span>of idiots, figure all this out when neither Emma nor I did?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When you’re an idiot, you believe in things more strongly than the smart people, who doubt everything,” Snow replied, and damn if Regina didn’t want to slap her for making her stupidity sound like the key to some zen riddle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Regina knew when to give credit where credit’s due. “Snow, I can’t believe I’m saying this. But...thank you. Don’t,” she added sharply, “let it get to your head.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You love me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said, don’t let it get to your head.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright.” Snow got up, straightening out her skirt. “Well, that was all I came here for. If there’s anything else you need, just ask.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As she turned around to leave, Regina called out, “Actually, there is something.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Snow spun back around, “What is it, Regina?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you drop me off at the station? I need to tell Emma the good news.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Regina arrived at the station, she expected to find no one there, or find Emma lounging in her chair, eating a bear claw. Regina expected some playful banter about Emma’s eating habits, to which Emma would counter with, “What about </span>
  <em>
    <span>your </span>
  </em>
  <span>food cravings, your majesty?” and they would both laugh together. Regina expected a long heartfelt conversation with happy tears and kisses.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina did not expect to see Emma throwing her ex-boyfriend into a jail cell. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You can’t arrest me! I was doing the honorable thing!” Robin was shouting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you seriously think what you were doing was honorable somehow, I suggest seeking mental help. Maybe try Archie?” Emma sniped. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina decided to intervene. She piped up, “Um, Emma? What’s going on?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At her voice, Emma spun around. “Regina!” she exclaimed, “How did you get here? Are you alright, walking around right now?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina rolled her eyes. “I’m pregnant, not incapable. Snow sent me. More importantly, why is Robin behind bars?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s the thing; I was just going to call you,” Emma said. “He was causing a scene in Granny’s, confessing the truth to everyone. The truth about what he did to you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The truth?” Regina didn’t like where this conversation was going.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re twisting my words to make it sound bad!” Robin interjected, “She was all for it, I tell you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma didn’t acknowledge his comment. “Brace yourself Regina,” she warned. When Regina nodded her readiness, visibly steeling herself, Emma continued, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Forest Shit </span>
  </em>
  <span>here was going on about how he ran into you at the Rabbit Hole eight months ago. You guys started talking, and he started shoveling you drinks. He then confessed to...</span>
  <em>
    <span>taking advantage of you</span>
  </em>
  <span> while you were inebriated, which he claims is why you don’t remember anything. Now, he wants to claim custody over your child. So I arrested him, for disturbance of the peace and for your rape.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Being a little tipsy means nothing! So what if she was more drunk than I was? She would have said yes sober, so it’s all the same! Regina, darling, you have to back me up here!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t get to speak about what is and isn’t consent!” Emma snarled. “It might be news to you, Forest Boy, but here we have laws that govern this kind of shit. And the laws say that you’re a criminal. Tell him, Regina.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina didn’t even know where to begin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The fact that any of this was happening at all was so fundamentally </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Emma, you can’t charge him for rape.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?!” Emma shrieked, her mouth hung open in disbelief. “Regina, what are you even saying?! Robin—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“—is a truly </span>
  <em>
    <span>reprehensible</span>
  </em>
  <span> person, no doubt. However, he’s no rapist. All he is, is a </span>
  <em>
    <span>liar</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina remembered going to the Rabbit Hole eight months ago, and she remembered seeing Robin. But she knew that even then, they didn’t so much as speak to one another. And Regina remembered getting home safely and waking up in her own bed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What, you don’t believe me? Regina please, you have to believe me! I was trying to do right by you,” Robin pleaded, his defense becoming more pitiable by the second.</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“No Robin, I call </span><em><span>bullshit</span></em><span>,” Regina said, her sharp words cutting through Robin like a hot knife through butter. “If you actually wanted to do the honorable</span> <span>thing, you would have come forward from the very beginning, not when I’m eight months in. And I know you knew about this; the whole town was talking about it. Coming forward now isn’t being a good father; it’s being a complete </span><em><span>douchebag</span></em><span> who wants custody over a child while expecting the mother to do all the hard work. Then again, that’s what this was all about, wasn’t it? You thought that if you became the father, we’d inevitably get back together hm?”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Robin sighed in defeat, and hung his head low. “I would do anything for you Regina,” he simply said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was then that Regina realized that in actuality, she didn’t really know Robin at all. Because she had bought his schtick about being a torn soul battling between his heart’s desires and his honor. But if Robin had ever cared about his honor or justice, he clearly discarded all of it whenever it came to Regina. It certainly wasn’t honorable when he initiated sex inside her vault next to his frozen wife or when he kissed her at the town line knowing his family couldn’t see his adultery. There really were no depths of depravity Robin wouldn’t sink to sate his desires. What Regina ever saw in him, she had no idea.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Emma cut in, “I’m not releasing him Regina.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you won’t,” Regina agreed. “He’ll have to stay overnight for his public misconduct, but after that he’ll be free.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Regina </span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span>, this is a mistake. He confessed to this, and as Sheriff, I have to take it seriously.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As Sheriff you listen to the mayor,” Regina countered. She adjusted her posture as much as she could, bringing out the domineering Mayor Mills image. “You </span>
  <em>
    <span>will</span>
  </em>
  <span> release him tomorrow morning, or I will see to it that your father does. Don’t fight me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma glared at Regina, then Robin, then Regina again. If looks could kill, Regina wouldn’t be dead, but the look still sent shivers down her spine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine,” she spat. “Robin, get comfortable for the night. Regina. A word in the hallway, please.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina followed Emma nervously. She knew that Emma was very angry and would probably tell her off, and Regina didn’t know if her stress levels could take it. She hoped Emma would keep that in mind. At the end of the hallway, Emma turned around and faced her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t believe you made me do that,” Emma said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Emma, why are you so hung up about his story? Why is this bothering you so much?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because he raped you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you believe him?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want to believe him! But,” Emma sighed sadly, “it’s the only answer that makes any sense.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course it circled back to the father/pregnancy issue. The question had been nagging Emma just as much as it had her. Regina realized then, that not once had Emma thought that she had cheated on her, and so she was looking for someone to blame. It would be easy to point fingers at Robin, making him the bad guy. A guy like him wouldn’t hesitate to do something like that, at least in Emma’s eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know how you feel about Robin. Trust me, I feel the same,” Regina reminded her. “But I couldn’t let you wrongfully arrest him for a crime I know he didn’t commit.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How could you know that? Your memories—” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know how I really got pregnant,” Regina blurted out, but it was a bad idea starting this conversation now, when Emma was angry and closed her mind and unwilling. Emma’s face of disbelief confirmed this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean? You couldn’t have possibly—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Snow told me, actually. The thing is, we’re...actually true loves. Our true love magic made a baby,” Regina confessed, cringing at her phrasing. Clearly, Regina hadn’t learned from her conversation with Henry the importance of carefully planning out these revelations.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma sighed and gave Regina a disappointed look. “My mother told you? Okay, now I know this is bullshit. And true loves? Come one Regina, you can’t possibly believe that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No Emma, it’s real! Look at this,” Regina held up the vial with the hairs. “This is Gold’s bottle of true love. Look at the colors. It’s the same as </span>
  <em>
    <span>our magic</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Her eyes were pleading for Emma to understand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma stared at the vial. Regina noted the sharp intake of breath, and for a moment, Emma looked like she </span>
  <em>
    <span>believed</span>
  </em>
  <span>. But then the moment ended and Emma shook her head. “That’s just a coincidence Regina. I’m sure there are other people with red and white magic. Colors don’t mean anything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>God, how could Emma be so willfully obtuse? Regina wasn’t giving up. “It’s not just that! Think about it Emma, think about all the times we’ve made magic together, how there was always something more behind it. Think about the curses we’ve broken with our son who we share and we love because we’re a </span>
  <em>
    <span>family</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Think about the infertility potion I took all those years ago; it never failed with any of my previous lovers until you. Until I started dating you. Until I fell in love with you. Are all of those just coincidences?” she pressed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And for the first time in months, Emma looked absolutely terrified. Her eggshell walls we're forming cracks, and the vulnerable, soft yolk was visible. It was a side of Emma Regina hadn’t acknowledged, and was now realizing that maybe she should have.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Regina please…” Emma’s voice became a whimper, and she was covering her ears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on, Emma! Try to believe! See Emma, </span>
  <em>
    <span>see</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Regina pleaded. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It’ll be okay Emma, just take a chance please.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Stop</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Emma exclaimed, stepping back as Regina tried to approach her. She laughed wryly, clearly at her limit. “Don’t—don’t do that. Don’t give me this stupid </span>
  <em>
    <span>hope</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hope?” Regina parroted, but Emma went on, thoroughly lost in her own ramblings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I had finally accepted it too, accepted that this whole situation, no </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span>, has been nothing but a shitshow. Because people like us don’t get those nice gift wrapped happy endings. Instead we get more pain, more trauma, more suffering, and all we can do is struggle and make do with the shit hand life dealt us. I had accepted never knowing the truth, and I had accepted that there’s another father out there, and that things would be messy but we’d make the best out of it, like we always do, and we would raise this child together amidst everything. Us against the world, you know?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now you're coming in and saying...you-you can’t do this Regina. You can’t, you can’t start now with these </span>
  <em>
    <span>beautiful ideas</span>
  </em>
  <span> that give me hope that everything will have a fairy tale ending. What you’re saying, I can’t—I won’t believe it. It could </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> be real.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Emma darling...When did you stop believing in magic and fairy tales again? When did you close your heart again? Is that why you were working so hard to make things work, so I wouldn’t notice your real feelings?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma shook her head, and Regina swore there were tears pooling in her eyes. “I can’t be here.” Emma turned around and headed for the exit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Emma please stop! Where are you going?!” Regina cried.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I'm going out. Away from all this,” Emma said coldly, waving her hand wildly. “I can’t deal with this right now. Snow set you up for this. Snow can pick you up.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Emma, wait!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Emma had already run off, heading straight for the patrol car. By the time Regina made it outside, Emma was driving off and she was gone. Without thinking, Regina gave chase.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t leave me please!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But it was a bad idea for an eight month pregnant woman who couldn’t even see her feet to start running after a car in flip flops. It was an even worse idea for said pregnant woman to run onto the road in her feeble pursuit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She didn’t see the pothole.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The truck didn’t see her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina didn’t know how she ended up in the hospital, if she somehow used magic or someone found her and brought her here. All she knew was that everything hurt and she was bleeding profusely and that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>very very bad.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...severe bleeding in the lower abdominal region.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Signs show damage to the inner walls of the uterus...the amniotic sac is torn. The fetus’s condition...unclear.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...only eight months...it’ll be a preterm birth...should we perform a C-section?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s too much blood loss...we can’t guarantee the safety of the patient...”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If we don’t perform the C-section, both the patient and her child will...”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Cervix levels already...epidural?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The unfamiliar voices kept buzzing all around her. Frantic hospital staff members were hooking her up to machines, trying to decide what procedure would save her. She couldn’t move from her bed. The contractions were getting stronger and more painful and Regina was </span>
  <em>
    <span>scared</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At least Dr. Salzman was there, doing her best to keep things under control. “Regina, look at me,” she said as calmly as possible. “When you got hit, your water broke. Right now, those contractions you’re experiencing right now are real; you entered labor early.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The baby,” Regina cried, “Is the baby okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“From what we can tell, yes. But there isn’t much time. We have a healer on you right now doing all she can to stop the bleeding. Your cervix has already dilated 7 cm, so we’re going to give you some epidural and have you continue the labor process. It’s the best chance we have at saving both of you,” the doctor explained, and Regina nodded weakly, already feeling very nauseous. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Deep breaths Regina, deep breaths. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>will </span>
  </em>
  <span>get through this, mark my words. Everything will be okay.” She stated it so affirmatively, as though this was a normal pregnancy and Regina wasn’t at death’s door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just then, two more people burst in. “Mom!” “Regina!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We got the call; we’re here to help,” Snow quickly rushed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Henry, you shouldn’t be here—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I want to be here Mom,” Henry insisted firmly, and Regina simply couldn’t deny him when these were very well what could be her final moments.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dr. Salzman took charge again. “Alright you two. Stand by the foot of the bed. Grab an ankle and hold her legs steady.” They followed orders promptly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where’s Emma?” Regina asked. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Surely if they got a call, then Emma also should have...</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However, Snow and Henry only glanced at each other, their faces sullen, and Regina’s heart fell. “She’s not with you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Henry spoke up first, “No one’s been able to get in touch with Emma. We think she turned off her phone.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“David’s looking for Emma,” Snow explained, her eyes also misty. “But it might take a long time before she gets here. So you’re probably have to—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No no no! I can’t—she has to be here. </span>
  <em>
    <span>She has to</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Regina’s heart was pounding.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The cervix has already reached 10 cm. and the head is starting to crown. You’re going to have to start pushing Regina.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’ll come, she has to come!” Regina wailed. She had to come, because Regina told Emma that they would do this together and that she couldn’t do this without her and she still couldn’t go through with it now because Emma wasn’t there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mom!” You </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> to push, before both you and the baby die</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But...” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Regina, you’re going to have to push </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Dr. Salzman's voice was urgent. Snow and Henry gripped her feet tighter, leaving Regina’s hands free. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Emma was supposed to hold my hand too. We were supposed to do this together.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With a final cry, Regina used all of her strength and...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I pushed and pushed. What happened after? Did the baby make it? Did I make it?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No. This isn't the Underworld. This is...this is something different. Am I trapped here? I shouldn’t be here. I should be at the hospital with my son, the Charmings, my daughter, Emma...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Emma didn’t make it. I mean, Emma didn’t come. They said that her phone was off. But what if that was a lie? What if they did call her and she refused to show up? I wouldn’t be able to bear it if that were the case. No, I can’t think like that. I can’t stop believing too; I can’t lose hope. Without belief or hope, what else do I have?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Emma stopped believing. When did she stop? Was it when I got pregnant? Was it when she forced herself to believe that this baby came from rape? Was it when she remembered Neal? Or maybe it was the months that followed, when we couldn’t find any alternate answers, the constant failures weighing on her over time. I...understand that feeling.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Still, I wish Emma had listened to me earlier. I wish we had talked things out more, got out our frustrations as they came, instead of dancing around until the elephant came crashing down, crushing all of us. Emma stopped believing and is gone. I got hurt and I don’t know if I’ll make it. Our baby...please if there is a god, just save her. She can’t die too.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I wish Emma had stayed. I wish Emma was here. I wish Emma believed in us, in our magic. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I want to go home with her and our son and our baby daughter. I want the first teeth, the first steps, the first words. I want to give her baths and change her diapers. I want long nights with Emma and I taking turns waking up at night to feed and console our daughter because she’s crying.I want long walks pushing her in a stroller while Emma carries a backpack of supplies. I want to flaunt our happiness in front of everyone we pass by and watch Emma boast to Ruby when we eat at Granny’s. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I want to go back to when everything looked like it would be perfect. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But I can’t. I’m too tired. I’m...fading...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I love you Emma. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Addendum: The Happy Ending</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How long has that humming noise been there? Has it always been there,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Regina wondered. She had lost track of how long she had been in this death-limbo</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She focused her energy on the sounds, trying to decipher them. The humming noise wasn’t really a sound, she realized, but rather a series of vibrations. To her, it felt like they were flowing through something, like a wave, for a brief moment before fading again. They had an ebb and flow, and sometimes, if Regina focused hard enough, she could vaguely feel herself being carried on the wave. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>More time passed (or was time passing at all?). Pitch black. Silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Is this my afterlife? Will I be stuck here forever?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And just when Regina thought that, something changed. The faint vibrations became stronger and louder. Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regina couldn’t describe the moment well, but at that moment when the vibrations picked up tempo it was as if she was hit with a tidal wave, and then everything was white.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pure white.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She registered the blinding light first. It’s dizzyingly painful, and she had to squeeze her eyes shut. She felt </span>
  <em>
    <span>pain </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>soreness </span>
  </em>
  <span>and indescribable </span>
  <em>
    <span>aches </span>
  </em>
  <span>all over her body. Regina instinctively tried to move, to get up but could only flop and flail wildly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But then there’s another sensation. Though her mind was a foggy haze, Regina registered her Emma’s strong arms wrapping around her, squeezing her tightly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“You’re awake, you’re really awake,” the words were near incomprehensible alongside her sobs, “I’m so sorry Regina I’m so, </span><em><span>so</span></em> <em><span>sorry for leaving you. For not listening to you. For not trusting you.” </span></em></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Regina had no idea what Emma was talking about but Emma was </span>
  <em>
    <span>there </span>
  </em>
  <span>and that was all that mattered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re here,” she croaked, not knowing what else to say. “You’re really here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes I am, and I’m never leaving you again!” Emma had the grace to pull back and hand her a glass of water, which Regina gulped down eagerly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She could take in her surroundings better now. She saw the walls of the hospital room. She saw Snow and David at the doorway, telling the doctors to back off for a bit “so they can have their moment.” She saw Henry moving beside Emma, wiping his nose into his sleeve.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mom! You’re okay!” he sniveled. “It worked, the idea with the baby, it really worked.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Only then did Regina notice the little newborn gurgling in her lap.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wanted you to hold her,” Emma tried to explain, “I thought that feeling your daughter would help, so I held her against your chest and then...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And then what?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There was a big flash of light and then you came back and I'm just—” Emma broke down crying again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma’s confession stunned Regina. With shaking arms, Regina slowly lifted her baby up to eye level, who giggled at the contact. As she laughed, small sparks flew from her fingers, startling Regina enough to drop her back into her lap.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was,” Regina began</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Magic,” they finished, gazing in awe at their daughter who was now rolling around and giggling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emma laughed happily and leaned forward for a kiss, “You were so right.” Regina returned the kiss in full, her fatigue vanishing as she cherished the taste of sweet love and sweeter vindication that she wasn’t crazy and that true love really did break a curse and make a baby.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Group hug!” Henry shouted, practically jumping on his mother to embrace her from behind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Henry! Careful!You could break her!” Emma admonished, and Regina couldn’t help but giggle at the blonde’s overprotectiveness, especially considering that she had just squeezed her much harder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ignore your mother, Henry, you’re not hurting me at all. Actually, while you’re there, my back is still really sore, if you would kindly.” Regina didn’t need to finish her sentence as Henry immediately jumped into masseur mode, hitting all the parts that she couldn’t reach. Regina closed her eyes and relaxed her body, falling limply into Emma’s arms still cradling her sleeping daughter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She would learn later that Emma had rushed in right as she had been losing consciousness. Emma had been utterly distraught, shaking her body and screaming at the doctors to “Try harder!” because Regina was dying. In a last ditch effort, Emma had thrown herself onto her, pouring all of her magic into her. That magic had been Regina’s lifeline; it had healed her outward injuries and kept her heart beating while she was asleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been ten whole days since then. Emma hadn’t left her side  (except for brief trips to the bathroom), keeping her stable with her magic. Meanwhile Henry and the Charmings have been watching over their baby in the hospital nursery. Miraculously (or maybe not so miraculous because magic), she was very healthy despite being a preterm. It was Snow who then proposed they take her to Regina once she was stable, something about “true love magic finds a way.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course there was still a lot left to be addressed, like how was a curse even broken without anyone realizing, how do you protect yourself from magical pregnancies, how could Emma just </span>
  <em>
    <span>run away </span>
  </em>
  <span>when Regina needed her most (and Emma would most likely receive a verbal scathing and have to earn her forgiveness), not to mention who the hell ran her over that day.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<span>But for now, she simply reveled in the warmth of Emma and Henry and the baby that was 100% </span>
  <em>
    <span>theirs</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and in that moment, Regina, for the first time in so long, felt like everything would truly be okay.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yeah I promised there'd be a happy ending, so yeah here you go. Hope you enjoyed this story :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Mwa ha ha...</p></blockquote></div></div>
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